This Week’s Suzuki Hayabusa Rumor

A new Suzuki Hayabusa is coming, this much we know. What that bike will be, what features it will have, and what it will look like though have been open to much speculation.

Unsurprisingly then, the rumor mill surrounding the Suzuki Hayabusa continues to churn out ideas about what this hyperbike will be, and today’s latest tidbit of gossip comes courtesy of Italy’s Insella publication.

In it, the Italian journos wager that the Suzuki GSX-1300R will in fact become the GSX-1400R for the 2019 model year, with the venerable Suzuki Hayabusa getting a displacement increase to the tune of 1,440cc for its four-cylinder engine.

The folks at Insella go on to say that the 2019 Suzuki Hayabusa will be an-all new machine (that much is a given), with features like traction control, semi-active suspension, and cornering ABS rounding out the package.

From our perspective, that list of features should be the basic underpinnings found on the new Hayabusa, with the model now 10 years older since its last refresh and technology update.

Of note, 2018 marks the 20th anniversary for the Suzuki Hayabusa, and we hope the the Japanese brand has something special for this special bird.

Initially built as a motorcycle to challenge the 200 mph barrier, the Hayabusa has earned itself a reputation of being a solid street machine, with comfortable ergonomics for larger rider and manageable power for on-road riding.

Built to be bulletproof, it is not uncommon to come across a high-miles Hayabusa, let alone one that has seen a life of sport-touring duty.

With Team Green treading into this hypersport-touing niche with the supercharged Kawasaki Ninja H2 SX (a bike that is getting very positive reviews in Europe right now), along with the outright ridiculously fast Ninja H2 street bike and Ninja H2R track bike, Suzuki’s ownership of the hyperbike space is waning fast.

This leaves the 2019 Suzuki Hayabusa as a very important model for the Hamamatsu. It not only has big shoes to fill, but it also has big expectations to live up to. Such is the case when you rest on your laurels for over a decade.

We doubt we will have much longer to wait to see what Suzuki has been cooking, but until then, you can be sure the rumors won’t stop.

Despite his best efforts, Jensen is called one of the most influential bloggers in the motorcycle industry, and sometimes consults for motorcycle companies, whether they've solicited his expertise or not.